HigherEd RWD Update

Twenty-fourteen saw an addition of 89 institutions (see the list below) to the HigherEd RWD directory, bringing the total to 252. So how is higher-ed stacking up to the industry as a whole? According to a HTTP Archive report, the average industry page weight in 2014 increased by 15% to 1.95 MB, with an average of 95 requests. So while the total number requests are lower, the average size for higher-ed sites (desktop) is nearly half a megabyte larger than the rest of the industry.

Current Stats for the HigherEd RWD Directory sites

The below numbers were compiled using WebPageTest Dulles, VA location. Desktop stats are run using Chrome (Dulles:Chrome) and mobile stats using iOS (Dulles_iOS).

Desktop

  • Load time1: 6.3s
  • Speed index2: 4,258
  • Requests: 69
  • Size: 2.4 MB

Mobile

  • Load time1: 29.4s
  • Speed index2: 15,121
  • Requests: 58
  • Size: 1.7 MB

2014 Additions

If you know of any other higher-ed sites that belong on the list, please let me know.

  1. Load Time is measured as the time from the start of the initial navigation until the beginning of the window load event (onload).
  2. Speed Index is the average time at which visible parts of the page are displayed. It is expressed in milliseconds and dependent on size of the view port.